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Goats To Serve As Golf Caddies At Silvies Valley Ranch

Bruce LeGoat, left, and Mike LeChevon are the first known goat caddies in the world.

Contributed photo/Silvies Valley Ranch

Animals have been employed in agriculture for many years — but not on a golf course.

At Silvies Valley Ranch, a small drove of goats has traded the cattle drive for the drive at the first tee on McVeigh’s Gauntlet. Several talented Boer goats have volunteered to serve as caddies for golfers on the seven-hole challenge course set to open in July at the new Retreat & Links resort south of Seneca.

With custom-designed backpacks, the goats will carry several clubs, balls and tees and a six-pack as golfers test their accuracy hitting from the tee box on one ridge to the green on another. And the goats aren’t just doing it for the peanuts.

“We would like to take credit for the idea, but frankly, it was the goats’ idea,” Vice President Colby Marshall joked. “The goats were looking for new career opportunities, a little more longevity in their career paths and we, being responsible equal opportunity employers, thought we’d give them a shot. You know, being a meat goat doesn’t have quite the same long-term career path as being a goat caddie.”